The Syndicate convened the Bilderberg Group, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Illuminati and the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy over the weekend at a secret hideaway in downtown Shangri-la to talk about themes for the 2016 campaign.

If the United States cannot verify that Iran isn’t developing nuclear weapons, then President Obama swears he won’t strike a deal with Tehran. This week, though, he seems hell-bent on doing precisely that, despite lingering questions about Iranian cheating. It is enough to drive a good man to distraction. Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton even argued in an editorial last week that we should bomb Iran ourselves before the Israelis beat us to the punch.

I spent the night of March 30, 2005, in a Florida hospice. I was at the bedside of Terri Schiavo during the last 14 hours of her earthly life, right up until five minutes before her death. During that time with Terri, joined by her brother and sister, I told Terri over and over that she had many friends around the country, many people who were praying for her and were on her side. I told her the same thing during my visits to her in the months before her feeding tube was removed. I am convinced she understood.

During this past week as we’ve been swamped with bad news pouring out of every corner of the globe, it wouldn’t be surprising if you missed one of the more shocking revelations about White House actions that would make even Richard Nixon blush.

The great conundrum of the U.S. economy today is that we have record numbers of working-age Americans out of the labor force at the same time we have businesses desperately trying to find workers. For example, the American Transportation Research Institute estimates there are about 35,000 trucker jobs that could be filled tomorrow if workers would take these jobs — a shortage that could rise to 240,000 by 2022.

There is never a good time for bad public policy. For few policies is this more evident than renewable energy mandates (REM), variously known as renewable portfolio standards, alternative energy standards and renewable energy standards.

A bipartisan consensus is emerging that the United States should do more to address Russia’s continuing aggression against Ukraine. But Russian revanchism does not begin or end with Ukraine, nor are “little green men” its only foreign policy instrument. Moscow is actively engaged in subversive activities along Europe’s eastern flank, targeting the region’s economic and political stability. As Central European capitals grow increasingly concerned, Washington urgently needs to demonstrate its robust commitment not just to the region’s security but to its democratic future.

President Obama says Rudy Giuliani was wrong. He does, too, love America. That’s good enough for me. He says he’s a Christian, despite his constant love bombs for Islam, and if that’s good enough for God it’s good enough for me, too. Conversations between believers and the Almighty are confidential, and have yet to be cracked by the National Security Agency (but we can be sure they’re working on it).

The Supreme Court decision in King v. Burwell, the case challenging the Obama administration’s decision to award tax credits for health insurance sold through federally established exchanges, could turn on the question of whether a ruling that ends the tax credits on federal exchanges might cause something known as a “death spiral” in health insurance markets.

Ted Cruz’s announcement this week that he’s running for president has officially kicked off the 2016 primary season and has put the pressure on other potential GOP candidates to declare. On the Democratic side of the scrum there is Elizabeth Warren, whom progressives hope is the candidate-in-waiting to lead their pitchfork brigade against the “1 percent.” While it’s still unclear whether Mrs. Warren will announce, it’s assured that her income inequality position will drive a major plank in the eventual Democratic nominee’s platform.

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For those of us who thrilled to the movie made of Rodgers and Hammerstein's last Broadway collaboration, "The Sound of Music," it is hard to believe that a half-century has passed since it claimed its unique place in American film.

As we stand about 20 months out from Election Day 2016, I have much to learn in terms of becoming both a better candidate and a better potential president of the United States. I do not take the opportunity lightly.

One way to neutralize a nuclear Iran without the kind of costly entanglements your columnist predicts is to bolster our defense against a potential Iranian attack ("Russia's endgame and Obama's end run in the Iran nuclear talks," Web, March 16).

A lawyer friend of mine routinely asks a question when preparing the defense of white-collar clients accused of high-dollar crimes: "What were you thinking?" The question comes to mind often when reading Erik Larson's harrowing and intriguing resurrection of the infamous but misremembered sinking of the British liner Lusitania by a German submarine, the 1915 catastrophe that did not trigger America's entry into World War I.

If America didn't have hundreds of satellites in orbit, our Air Force, Navy and Army — as well as our intelligence agencies — wouldn't be deaf, dumb and blind. But they'd come close. Our aircraft, ships and submarines are designed to depend on satellites for their high-technology capabilities.

What do you know — the world's leading reformer of Islam is turning out to be a general. He is not a learned mullah. He is not a suicide bomber. He does not even have a weaponized bicycle. He is Egypt's Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi who, somewhat reminiscent of our own Gen. George Washington, turned in his uniform for civilian garb and was elected president of Egypt with a huge majority.

During the past few weeks, a series of articles in the press have implied that Willie Soon, a well-known global-warming skeptic, had violated ethical standards by failing to disclose information about research funding.

Will she, or won't she? Three-fourths of Americans say Hillary Clinton will run for president, but only 42 percent want her to. So says a new poll that parses out the ever-complicated presidential landscape.

The major leaguers are packing up in Florida and Arizona, getting ready to head north for "the Show" after weeks of sharpening a batting eye or perfecting a curve ball in the sunshine of the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues. So, too, are the presidential wannabes. They've been toying with each other (and us) for weeks, saying they're "thinking about running," or talking about "exploratory committees," and now they're going to have to get real, too.

Life and professional partners, the Andersons completed this, their last book together, not long before Martin passed away. It is a model of careful research and clear writing and a tribute to a man, Ronald Reagan, whose vision of a world without nuclear weapons and his determination to bring it about led to the end of the Cold War.

It has been known in the nuclear arms community for the last six years that the Iranians had secured enough enriched U-235 for the creation of a first-generation implosion bomb. Further to this point, the construction of an actual bomb small enough to be dropped from a transport plane, or carried by a fishing trawler or small freighter, has been judged to be available since 2010.

There's a high rolling culture at work here: March Madness has produced record-breaking TV ratings and $900 million in revenue for the NCAA. Americans will also bet $9 billion on the tournament - and appease their taste for a certain cuisine as well.

When someone mentions Peru to you, what is the first visual image that pops into your head? Inca Indians with their llamas in the Andes Mountains, looking at the some of the stone ruins of their ancient civilization? Yes, Peru still does have some of that, but most Peruvians are now employed in an increasingly rapid-growing and diverse economy.

"Words matter," was White House press secretary Josh Earnest's recent explanation of the Obama administration's intent to reassess its support for Israel regardless of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's clarification of his campaign comments "Benjamin Netanyahu win forces Obama to re-evaluate Middle East peace strategy," Web, March 18). But as words and actions go, President Obama has been the duplicitous one.

It's really amazing that the so-called stock market gurus were worried that the Federal Reserve Board would raise interest rates at its March 17-18 meeting, thus leading to a less bountiful Wall Street.